The article discussion series is an open forum to discuss research that is central to your topics of interest. We plan to have both faculty and doctoral student led sessions that explore various current topics. If you would like to lead a discussion of an article (one of yours, or someone else’s), please let us know and we will support the process. See below for times and links to the articles for each session.
Next session:
Tuesday March 14, 3:30-4:30 in TC 542.
Write it Down: Journaling as Depression InterventionParenting, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Child Executive Functioning: A Longitudinal Study
Eric Ballenger will lead the discussion of the article: “Benefits of Expressive Writing in Lowering Rumination and Depressive Symptoms.” Gortner, Rude, and Pennebaker (2006). Behavior Therapy 37, 292-303.
This article expands on Pennebaker’s expressive writing paradigm, specifically looking at its role in reducing depression in college students with a history of depression. The writing paradigm has previously been used in improving mental and physical health, but this study is one of the first specifically targeting depression.
Tuesday November 29th, 12:30-1:30 in TC 542.
Parenting, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Child Executive Functioning: A Longitudinal Study
Parenting, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Child Executive Functioning: A Longitudinal Study by Émilie Rochette and Annie Bernier
R., & B. (2014). Parenting, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Child Executive Functioning: A Longitudinal Study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 60(4), 431. doi:10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.60.4.0431
This research examined the impact of Socio-economic status (SES), and maternal behavior on Executive Functions (EF), in children age 1 year, and again at age 3 years. This longitudinal study was done in Montreal, Canada, 2014. EF inteventions are often based on the assumption that parent–child relationships are vital in breaking the intergenerational cycle of risk often found in families with lower SES (e.g., Moss et al., 2011). This research suggests in discussion that children from relatively lower-SES perform the worst on EF tasks when exposed to “low-quality,” mothering behaviors. It also suggests these children gain EF skills and are equal to more advantaged peers if they are exposed to “high-quality,” mothering behaviors. The implications of this study would be to target mother-child interactions as a means to improve EF in children from lower SES environments.
Article Link Below
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Prior sessions:
Tuesday November 8th, 12:30-1:30 in TC 542.
Developing Argumentation Skills; Led by Anastasia Wilson, Department of Educational Psychology
Developing Argumentation Strategies in Electronic Dialogs: Is Modeling Effective? by Elisabeth Mayweg-Paus, Fabrizio Macagno & Deanna Kuhn (2016) Discourse Processes, 53:4, 280-297, DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2015.1040323
The article covers an intervention study on adolescents’ argumentative skills. In particular, the researchers were interested in how these skills developed via electronic dialogs with same-age peers versus electronic dialogs with “expert” adults. This research is loosely inspired by Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development/“more knowledgable others” concepts and also builds upon Deanna Kuhn’s previous research in adolescents’ argumentative skill development via electronic discourse contexts. What qualifies as “good” arguing is described/defined and assessment methods/issues are also discussed. Implications for argumentative skill development in adolescent classrooms are then explored.
Tuesday November 1, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542.
Online Student Motivation; Led by Lori Stephens, Department of Educational Psychology
Motivation in Online Learning: Testing a Model of Self-Determination Theory (Chen & Jang, 2010). Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 741–752.
The article extends the field of motivation research by examining motivation of online students through the lens of self-determination theory and discusses the finding of the importance of contextual supports and their effects on autonomy, competency, and relatedness in an online setting. Implications for online education and future research in the field of motivation for online students will be discussed.
Article Link: chen_jang_2010
Tuesday October 11th, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542.
Is your Reward System Enhanced by Playing Video Games?; Led by Joshua Heath, Department of Educational Psychology
Discussing the article Video Game Training and the Reward System (Lorenz, Gleich, Gallinat, & Kuhn, 2015). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9(40), 1-9.
This article explores how video games may have an influence on the reward system by performing a longitudinal study on those who have never played games before to see if the reward system is a precondition of playing games versus a result of playing games. The discussion will examine the presented concepts supporting the research, the results, and the future utilization of the reported results.
Article Link Below
Tuesday October 4, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542.
The Influence of Body Posture on Dissonance Reduction; Led by Christopher Thomas, Department of Educational Psychology
Discussing the article Supine body posture decreases rationalizations: Testing the action-based model of dissonance (Harmon-Jones, Price, & Harmon-Jones, 2015). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56, 228–234.
The article extends dissonance research by exploring how altering an individual’s motivation to act influences dissonance reduction (i.e., rationalization efforts). Discussion will concern the connection of this work to contemporary theories of conceptual change as well as the practical implications of this novel line of research in regards to intervention efforts designed to correct learners’ preinstructional misconceptions.
Tuesday September 27, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542.
Individual Differences in Multiple Text Comprehension; Led by Dr. Alexandra List, Dept of Educational Psychology
This session, we will be discussing the article Beliefs about Justifications for Knowing When Ethnic Majority and Ethnic Minority Students Read Multiple Conflicting Documents. by: H.I. Strømsø, I. Bråten, Ø Anmarkrud, & L.E. Ferguson (2016)
Tuesday September 20, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542.
Working memory and attention as predictors of academic success; Led by Melissa McGrath, Dept of Educational Psychology
This session, we will be discussing the article Early Childhood Memory and Attention as Predictors of Academic Growth Trajectories by Deborah Stipek & Rachel Valentino. Click the link below for the article.
Tuesday September 13, 12:30 – 1:30 in TC 542. Types of Test Anxiety Led by Jerrell Cassady, Department of Educational Psychology
Discussing the article Reexamining the relationship between test anxiety and learning achievement: An individual differences perspective (Sung, Chao, & Tseng, 2016). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 46, 241-252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.07.001 (link below).
- The article extends the field of test anxiety research by exploring the finding that the relationship between test anxiety and performance differs based in part on your overall achievement level. How test anxiety affects learners is a complex factor. The connection of this work to recent work by members of the Academic Anxiety Resource Center will be shared as well, and discussion of how recent findings from our team will ideally flow into suggestions for new studies.
- http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0361476X16300236/1-s2.0-S0361476X16300236-main.pdf?_tid=78ab2aa4-76c2-11e6-9bd0-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1473449010_6beae9eaa3cf742887a97092985da71f